With Fran
by JerisEnigma
Summary: Jeris has been in Ivalice long enough to get comfortable and partner up with the bangaa, Erté. She's on a routine quest with him when she stumbles upon Fran in the Westersand.
1. With Fran Chapter 1

**With Fran Chapter 1**

The explosion sent a spray of needles at the Wild Saurians's flank, piercing an eye and peppering its abdomen. It tossed its head backwards in fury. Jeris seized the opportunity and, rushing around to its front, leapt up and rammed her sword up through its lower jaw. In rage it whipped its head back down, flinging her roughly onto her back, knocking th air out of her. Its short arms clawed the air futilely as it tried to wrench its pinned jaws apart, cutting the soft flesh deeply on the masterless sword. Erté leapt off the raised outcropping and planted himself on its shoulders. As Jeris recovered, he scrambled forward and thrust his clawed hands into its vulnerable neck. It struggled and thrashed about, nearly stomping Jeris as she dodged away and watched for an opening. The Wild Saurian was weakened to the point of exhaustion but it tossed about even more violently, sending Erté crashing into the rock wall behind them. Again Jeris reacted to the timing and sent twin blasts of Blizzard glistening towards its flanks. The devastated tyrant toppled to the ground with a thundering crash. Jeris lunged forward and retrieved her sword, then reembedded it in the creature's eye. Using a foot for leverage she slid it back out with a sickening squelch. Erté dusted himself off and joined her.

The two soared across the Westersand atop two sated Twintania, their loot heavy in their saddlebags. The desert's vast expanse spread in all directions, unblemished for miles around. Suddenly a colossal black form loomed below them. They traded glances then angled for descent.

The _Strahl_ lay crippled after its emergency landing upon the Westersand's uneven, rocky landscape. Panicked moogles scurried back and forth across its exterior, assessing the damage and doing minor diagnostics. Balthier stood leaning against the hull, Fran kneeling 200 yards from him. As the duo approached, Fran glanced at her partner then looked away. Balthier didn't budge as Fran stood up and came to meet them. Jeris twitched an eyebrow at this, but didn't comment. "What seems to be the problem? Not the best of places to use as a rest stop." "We had a malfunction. There was a Myst surge." Fran replied in her heavy accent. "_Mysst_? Way out _here_? But what could amass enough for a _surge_?" "That's what we'd like to know. I'd barely sensed it before we were blasted out of the sky." "Perhaps Cid may know more. I'll contact him." With that, Jeris pulled a small device from her pouch that glowed with an eerie blue aura.

_An outsider to Ivalice, Jeris had been shocked and irritated at the lack of electronic devices. Being a redmage had helped and by twisting a few spells was able to create small blue orbs that acted like cellphones with video conferencing. Nothing keeps a teenager away from a cell for long. ;P_

Its screen flickered for a moment before the Judgemaster's face appeared in it. "Yes? What is it? Not to be rude, but I'm a bit busy at the moment!" "Know you anything of a Myst surge in the Dalmascan Westersand?" "So it's reached you, too? It's been radiating from the city but we don't know from where. Most citizens are only feeling ill, but our few viera are on a rampage! They each reacted differently to the huge concentration, but we've at least five that've berserked! crashing sounds Speaking of such, I'm needed!" At those parting words, Jeris put the device away.

"That wass informative." "Indeed," said Fran, "Now I know where to begin my search." "What, alone?" Jeris said with a puzzled look. "Balthier'll not leave his precious ship. I go alone." "Actually, I'll be going with you. I can create and maintain a shield that'll protect you from most of the radiation. Erté, I'd like you to aid Cid in restoring order. From the sound of things, he could use a set of well muscled hands." When she finished, she wore a smug smirk and the two humeanoids exchanged concerned glances. Jeris gave a nod to Balthier and he shrugged then turned and went inside the _Strahl_. "Well, we needn't walk. Fran, I'd like you to meet Vahe and Kaikura, my Twintania steeds."


	2. With Fran Chapter 2

**With Fran Chapter 2**

As they entered the city, it was disastrous. Carts were overturned and the few citizens who had yet to flee were running in terror, tripping over themselves to get out. A hume man to their left was emptying his stomach in nausea and a moogle to their right was cowering on a window sill. The farther they ventured the worse it got. They passed one viera standing in a corner, staring blankly at the wall. Another walked by them as if nothing was amiss, twitching and spasming every few steps. By the time they'd penetrated to the heart of the city it was deserted. "I don't like thiss..." shivered Erté, his s's getting worse in his nervousness. Jeris clutched his arm supportively. "Don't worry, the viera we've seen so far have been pretty harml-" "Viera in a rage are anything _but_." snapped Fran, her eyes not meeting their's, always moving about as if expecting an ambush from any angle. "Fran..." Jeris started but was interuppted by a loud crash ahead of them. Spilled vegetables rolled around the corner and the trio tensed for a fight. Jeris strengthened Fran's shield, taking her irritation as a hint. Seconds seemed like hours as no one moved.

Slowly, ever so slowly, a viera dressed as if still fresh from the Wood strode out and towards them. Her head hung down but even from that angle they could see her eyes glowing with Myst exposure. The three spread out to flank her and she stopped. As they started to close in she slowly looked up, tossing her head about like a playful child. They continued to move in closer when suddenly she shot towards Jeris. Reflexively, Jeris threw the woman passed her, using her momentum to effortlessly flip her away. "Erté! Take her!" The bangaa dove atop the splayed viera, then rose with her pinned, arms tight behind her. She thrashed and shrieked like a wild animal, but to no avail. In an attempt to break free, she kicked off the ground and tried to flip over his head. He simply twisted his hold and she fell back down. "Take her to Cid. Oh, wait." Jeris cast dispel, sleep, then another of her modified barriers. "Much better." She slumped in his hold and he threw her over his shoulder. "You two watch yourselves." They watched him go, then turned towards the palace.

Blocking their way up the palace steps were two panicked looking guards. "H-halt! No one gets in without an ah-ah... uh, appointment!" stuttered one of them. "Chill out man..." Jeris teased with a sneer and dual cast of sleep and silence. The guards slumped down to their knees and the women slipped past. The farther in they ventured, Fran grew more and more distracted. With the shield at maximum there was little Jeris could do to help. So with their senses on edge, they continued deeper, then higher into the palace.

Several floors up there was a minor féte being arranged. No dignitaries would be attending so it was really only an equally extravagant banquet. Hume servants busily set up arrangements and place settings while mog designers hung draperies and banners. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for the occasional grimace on the faces of the particularly sensitive. Fran and Jeris passed by all this in the hallways unnoticed.

As they reached some of the quieter more discreet or private areas, a faint ringing note came to their attention. Barely audible, even for viera, but insistent and unbroken. After several minutes of following it, Fran began to suffer from terrible migrains, further setting her on edge. The high pitched keening was sharp in the ears, yet soft enough that one barely noticed it.

Even with this telling sign, however, they couldn't pin it down. Like an elusive cricket loose indoors, it seemed to move yet be impossible to track down. Fran was starting to get fatigued from the stacking annoyances and even Jeris' relatively dull hume nerves were becoming wracked with pain so they decided to head back.

At the entrance, the guards had woken to find their acquaintances gone as well as their supervisor and the captain of the guard. With no one to report to, they'd returned to their posts. They weren't exactly pleased to see the two females again. But Jeris changed that.

With another swift casting she threw Stop on one guard and Charm on the more appealing of the two. "Uh um... can I help you ladies?" he said uncertainly, glancing at his frozen coworker. "Well that depends on what you know." Jeris said beguilingly, sidling up to him while discreetly throwing an Immobilize his way. "My friend here was actually leaving. I, on the other hand, could use some directions. As you may have noticed there's an awful ruckus going on outside. Know you anything of this?" The guard frantically sought for an answer and Jeris settled against the wall beside him as Fran strolled outside unhindered. He continued to blunder about as Jeris began boredly tracing the lines of his armor with a forefinger. "We-ell... there's um, mmm, some kind of celebration going on today..." he ventured unsurely. "Yes, because it's oh so _festive_ out here of course." she said sarcastically, losing interest and getting impatient. "What do you think they'd make such a fuss about, hm?" She looked up into his eyes and noticed his gaze locked in his partner's direction. She followed the look and saw that the man was beginning to stir. After a quick spell refreshing she turned back to her plaything. "They must be celebrating _something_, yes?" she repeated, nudging his face back towards her's with the same finger as before. "I'm sure such an informed man as yourself would've heard something... _yes_?" For good measure she tossed a Banish at the Stopped guard as the enthralled one's eyes strayed a bit too low.

"Well, uh, my buddy Mike here's girlfriend is an acquaintence of a maid who works upstairs with all the royals and whatnot, and she said a girl who works on the nightshift overheard some engineers talking about their new experiment. Something real serious ordered by the Prince himself. Don't know what it does, but it was supposed to premier earlier today." The Charm had worn off by now, but the man didn't seem to notice as he got more comfortable chatting up the blue-haired beauty who'd somehow ended up before him.

"An experiment you say? From the Prince himself... That _does_ sound important! Thank you sir! You've been _oh_ so helpful to me. Maybe I'll see you again sometime." She parted with a wink and the guard watched her walk away, wondering vaguely where Mike had gone off to.

Jeris worked her way around the castle walls until she reached the ledge she'd been looking for. Fran had gone to get her Myst-shielded hover-bike in case they required a hasty retreat. Using a Teleport wouldn't be too smart in such an unstable environment.

Hardly thinking about the change, Jeris formed wings and sprang into the air, flying up to perch on the sill to the Prince's antechamber.


	3. With Fran Chapter 3

**With Fran Chapter 3**

Hours later, as Fran cooled down her bike in the early morning sun, Jeris contacted Cid to report what they'd found so far. "So, what have you learned?" "We found the source of the surge... _with some help from a very talkative royal_... It was a device that harnesses immense amounts of Myst and radiates it throughout Rabanastre, beginning with the palace." "I'll ignore that bit about a royal for my own conscience... Now we need to figure out what to do about this device and where to find it." "No need. I stole it." Jeris stated proudly with a mischevious smirk. "You _what_? If the Prince finds out you know I'll have no choice but to arre-" "No worries... no worries. I stole him too." The screen on Cid's end of the orb shifted to include the Prince bound and gagged in the hover-bike's side car. Cid's mouth opened and closed several times before he simply let out a long sigh. "I warned her already but she'd not hear me." Fran's voice said through his sphere. "I propose we question him then use a small hit of Amnesia before returning him post haste." "_He was quite helpful already, until he realized who I was of course_." A dual glare from both ends of the transmission hit Jeris hard enough that she flinched from the viera and Judgemaster.

"So... those stuck up nobles convinced you to _drive out the viera_?!" "As acting Prince while Her Majesty Ashelia is away on a political matter it is my duty to protect my people, MY people, not some invading leporine women. I-" "But now you've driven out everyone _including_ said nobles and turned the city into an uninhabitable battleground! _Brilliant_!" Jeris stopped, her eyes suddenly glued to the device sitting in the dirt before her. It was clear to all near enough to see her face what was rapidly growing in her mind. "Jeris..." Fran started warningly. Doned wrung his hands is unease as Jeris clenched and unclenched her own in anticipation. "If... if you smash it, it won't stop the signal. You may even lock in the pulse." "What?!" The Prince shrunk under her glare. "I, well, my engineers, used a shard from this region's crystal to power it. It's become _part_ of the area now, the device is just the on/off switch." Jeris grit her teeth, her mind racing for another solution. Erté sauntered off to wait somewhere where he wouldn't be choked by the shared frustration in the air. "If we are done with him I've readied the Amnesia." Fran said disdainfully. "I'll still know _you! _I'll know that face, that _color_ will send up a red flag in my mind!" "Yes, but you won't know _why._" Jeris replied, a dark look in her eye. "Hit him. I'm done here." Then, with a flash of a proverbial light bulb, she stopped, eyes twinkling and barely audible, "What we need here is another outsider... One with experience destroying crystals."


	4. With Fran Chapter 4

**With Fran Chapter 4**

Marche was just exiting the men's room when he was tackled headlong to the floor of the pub by a panicked red-headed moogle. "What the he- Montblanc! What's _with_ you?" "_She's_ here! Just came via long distance Moogling! Asked for us specifically!" "Who's-" "You _know_ who!! That perma-dyed swordswinging psychopath! I thought she left Cyril but no no NO! Nono called Hurdy and he confirmed it! And she's brought that hateful _viera_ with her. Oh oh kupoooh- ACK! She's HERE!!" "SLOW. DOWN. You already said she's here, I got tha-" "Nooo, _here_ -the pub- at the bar! _NOW_!"

Getting to his feet and pushing the moogle off of him, Marche peered through the pub-goers to search the bar. It didn't take long to spot the girl's long, unnaturally colored hair. The bar man had already pointed them their way and the viera was already half way through the crowd. "Better have a good excuse to run off right as she gets here again..." "I'll be uh-umm esper-collecting!" The panicked, not usually hyper mog gathered his stuff off the table and started to dash away, but Marche grabbed him by the collar. "You already did that. She got pissed that you were so rude last time and checked up on you. You can't use the same alibi." "Then uh, kupooo..." "No starting new clans either! That last one tried to leave you for dead in a Jagd. Twice." "Mmm, Pins! Corsages! Pendants! I'm collecting esp- no, er _Scion_ stuff for for... some important reason. I'll start with Belias, BYE!" He watched the moogle dash off for the pub's back exit, diving through people's legs and upsetting more than one barmaid. Marche returned to his chair right as the already angry girl neared their spot. "I swear that mog's got compulsive-obsessive whatever." "And ADHD. Not to mention bad manners." She'd seen the moogle's hasty departure and wasn't too pleased.

"Oh, hi Ritz. That bit's kinda your fault though." "Ahem." "Ritz-" "That's not why I'm here though. I-" "Ah-hem." "Ritz can you just wait for a mo-" "-was coming by to make sure-" "_Shove off pinky._ I was here first so wait your turn." "_EX-cuuse me_?!" "I said shove off. Silence! I'll only be a minute." "Mmmrmph!" "STOP! Now where was I?" Ritz froze in place and Shara put a hand to her eyes. She'd have to hear about this for weeks. "Shara." "Fran." The two viera took their leave of the hume confrontation to watch from a safe distance. "You didn't need to do that, Jeris." "Like I said, I'll just be a minute longer. Now, we already know the crystals blow up when you defeat them, but the shards left over still have some power. How do we take care of _that _without simply crushing them?" "Shards? I thought they dissentigrated when we beat them? Oh, wait, the Nu Mou's didn't. Well, in that case I'm not sure. Can't really help you there. Sorry." "Oh, she's gonna be sorr-" "Silence! Alright then, thanks anyway. Too bad about Montblanc's little quest there, I hear some kid named Luso's already got the first three." "We leave. Farewell Shara." Shara nodded goodbye to the other viera and turned back with a grimace. Her and Marche shared a cringe as they watched the spell on Ritz fade and the storm to come begin to brew.


	5. With Fran Chapter 5

_Krr-aaack! _The antlion's shell shattered into pieces, pelting the shooter's face with bits of goo and chips. Straightening his hat and flicking his wings to dislodge any of the matter, he stood to survey the field. Littering the ground for yards around him lay half a dozen antlions, their shells all split asunder, a few singed from fireshots. With a satisfied smirk he holstered his Aiot Gun and gathered what loot there was to be had.

"Hmm... not bad. Maybe we should recruit him." Jeris said with a grin and glance to Erté. The bangaa only shrugged before leaving to hunt up some new info for their mission. Jeris stood and watched as the wee gunner mog cleaned and reassembled its gun, obviously quite proud of itself. Erté had rejoined her after she'd returned from Cyril and parted ways with Fran. The viera promised to check up on Balthier before heading out to do a search of her own, but whether they'd actually talk was uncertain. Since then, Erté had been doing his streetear bit trying to gather any clues on how to safely be rid of the crystal shards while Jeris waited and tried to puzzle it out on her own. Surrounding their base outside of Nalbina was a luxurious oasis, not to mention an expansive plain ideal for clanners to do battle on. Though the base was well hidden from sight, it had quite a view of the field allowing them to keep an eye on anyone in the area.

On the way back from Cyril Jeris had obtained a small fragment of crystal by searching around Ulei River for the remains the Totema Famfrit once guarded. It was a totally insignificant piece, but all attempts to destroy it had failed. So far Jeris had only succeeded in chipping a tiny piece off and losing it a few times on the floor of the base. Unfortunately it seemed that while the powerful gems could be smashed, thus stopping whatever binding or radiation they'd been naturally creating, the physical remains could not be completely eliminated, as harmless as they seemed. The one the device in Rabanastre harnessed was being amplified exponentially by the machine it rested in, making its normally unnoticeable traces of magick into horrifying amounts of radiation. From what the Prince had said, somehow smashing the device itself wound not end this amplification, only make it permanent. That in itself was another issue Jeris had yet to deal with.

The moogle had finally finished admiring its handiwork and was heading out to where ever its next destination could be. Jeris had yet to recruit any new members since her original clan, now strong enough that they engaged in missions on their own and only sending the occasional reports to her. So solid was her clan's family that they'd become totally self sufficient, not even returning to the base for weeks on end as they adventured about, leading Jeris to hunt out her newest partner, Erté, for company. Perhaps it was time to add a new branch to her family... But that could wait. She made a mental note to keep an eye on this moogle so full of potential and refocused on the mission at hand.


	6. With Fran Chapter 6

Aurelie had returned to the base, the two assassins in tow. Mora stored her recent prizes in her room and disappeared just as quickly as she'd returned. The summoner was glad to do some research for her friend and clan leader and soon lost herself in her search. Cecelia entertained herself outside with some target practice.

Several hours later she was sure she'd found the answer. Some species of bugs, especially ants and beetles, produce acids for defensive, offensive and other purposes. One species in particular, the red striped ant lion native to Roda Volcano, stores especially strong acids in its abdomen for dissolving rock. And crystal, magickal or no, is just a different type of mineral and thus should be dissolvable by the juices it secretes.

She and Cecelia had another mission to attend to so they did not join Jeris in her search for one, but she had expected as much. It was a simple enough matter to track one's habitat down, but since it is a being that lives mostly underground it would be a tedious task to find the actual insect. Erté accompanied her as usual and the two left astride their two twintania mounts. Kaikura had been grumpy towards the bangaa recently so Jeris rode it to the site.

It took some time to get there since because it was in the Roda Volcano there could be latent Myst deposit deep below its faults and Jeris was taking no chances. It was a harsh enough environment to be in without added surprises. The twintania, though evolved to be more suited to cold environs, were still beetles and not bothered too much by the heat. They soared around the landscape for a while searching for clues, but to no avail. So they set down on a plateau that appeared to have loosened soil and searched on foot.

Jeris and Erté quickly grew fatigued walking around in the heat so took to riding the twintania as they searched themselves. The insects were especially sensitive to vibrations and seemed to sense _something, _so they just let them wander. Something was nagging at the back of Jeris' mind though, something like caution about their quarry that she had failed to take into consideration. It didn't bother her enough to really care since she was so confident in her abilities, but there's a reason that arrogance has a price... Still, she also prided herself in her ability to know this sort of thing, how to bring down any mob, the elemental weaknesses of any prey, and most importantly how to approach them without being killed in the process.

THAT. That was _it_. The approach to the kill. That was what she had not bothered to consider before setting out, before _landing _and taking to _foot_ in possibly dangerous and most certainly unfamiliar territory. It was as she was realizing this that she also became aware that the twin's had stopped. They stood with their feathers raised to sense the air, heads lifted higher than normal in case of attack... Something was near. How do you approach an antlion? Ant lion, ant lion... Wait, _ant lion_? You _don't_! Most assuredly not on foot! That's how the damn things hunt, they attack from below or catch you in a sink hole.

"Take off! Get off the ground! NOW!" Too late had she realized the dilemma. A gigantic segmented head burst from the ground and clacked its jaws insidiously. Kaikura leapt into the air not a moment too soon, but Vahe recoiled and hesitated before spreading its wings and crouching to leap. The ant lion took advantage of this and snapped forward, crushing the twintania's legs in its mandibles. What a fool she had been to come so unprepared! Twas the folly of all adventurers who became too arrogant in their skills and thus their downfall. But there was no time for cursing her idiocy, they were under attack!


	7. With Fran Chapter 7

"VAHE!" Jeris shrieked as the beast's legs collapsed beneath it broken and twisted. The ant lion's jaws became trapped under the twintania's weight, leaving it temporarily helpless. A shocked and grim Erté leapt off his fallen mount and out of harms way. He caught Jeris' outstretched hand and swung himself up behind her on to the other ride's back. They urged the stressed and frightened beast away from its felled kin and up to higher ground. Vahe roared in distress and struggled to raise itself. Jeris let Erté take over Kaikura'a reigns and readied her spells as the ant lion worked its mandibles loose. The injured twintania's cries increased in volume and frequency, further upsetting its kin and unnerving Jeris. Erté struggled to keep the beast in check and out of danger, but it fought him with all its strength to aid the other.

"Grrah! Stay back you stupid beassst!" "Eerrr...! Bastard!! GET AWAY FROM HIM! FIRAGA!" An inferno spread from her arms, engulfing and searing the ant lion. Its organs boiled in its shell, audibly popping and sizzling, making the area fill with its stench. "JERISSS! Reign yourself in! You'll cook the twin' like that! They're far too close! _Jeris_!" She sobbed, her face streaming with tears, but only increased the intensity of the flames. Instantly the beetle's shell exploded into bits of heated shrapnel and boiling goo. Jeris reflexively shielded her party as the fire's glow faded. Still sobbing but her face painfully dry from the heat, she rushed to the now silent creature's side.

Its sides still heaved but nothing else moved. She fell to her knees at its side and laid her hands upon its flank, only to yelp and pull them back, for the beast's hide was heated as well. This time without contact, she began casting high level white magick spells in a desperate attempt to keep the beast alive. The first four spells glistened in the air but did not affect her quivering patient. Frustrated but not slowed. She Dispelled the Reflect Vahe had cast defensively and cast Auto-Life should her casting prove to be too slow.

Erté led the other mount over to calm it, doing the same for himself as he watched Jeris, more concerned for her well being than for that of his injured beast. Her sobbing ceased as she redoubled her efforts to repair the creature. Her spells reattached its ruined legs and cooled its burns, but with each healing the twintania rebuffed itself reflexively, forcing Jeris to again Dispel it, interrupting her ministrations.

The battle for its life was wearing thin. Magickal cures or no, one must receive aid within minutes else permanent damages be sustained. This was rapidly becoming the case despite her best efforts. The beast shuddered violently as it lumbered to its feet, again wailing in deep distress. Its renewed cries were of a strange pitch and cadence, likely meaning it had nerve or brain damage. It took a few clumsy steps and spun in a half circle as it caught itself from falling. Now that its other side was in view, she could see that it was sunken in horribly.

Her face crumpled and reddened as she rose to her feet and slammed it with more intense spells. "Its no use... there was too much harm done..." "No..." she said in a hushed voice, "No! HOLY!" A sharp white light burst through the mount, killing it instantly. "Li- no, Arise!" The beast roared back into being, still crippled and crushed in terrible ways. "Itss no use... stop. _Stop_!" Erté grabbed and turned her away from the damaged creature. She stared down, again shuddering and sobbing silently. Kaikura stepped towards its former kin, inspecting and analyzing it. No longer did it wail with worry or fright, but growled its disapproval.

"Jeris... look at me! There's nothing more you can do. It wasn't your fault!" He lifted her head to look at him. Their eyes met and he could see the pain and frustration that she'd never let show before. To the rest of the world she was calm and reserved, only expressing anger or mirth, never such a fragile image. Frankly it frightened him.

They stood locked like that for several moments until a sharp CRACK! snapped their attention towards the twintania. They looked just in time to see Kaikura turning away from Vahe. The undamaged twin had bashed the less fortunate one across the head, crushing where a skull would be. The finished beast fell to the ground a last time, too dead to ever bring back. Kaikura returned then to their side and stood at ready as any loyal mount would.

Erté looked to Jeris for her reaction. Her face calmed and darkened, the shaking completely stilled and a stern understanding filled her demeanor. She met his eyes herself this time. "Bugs. They're... instinctual, not _compassionate_," she said, spitting the word, "Not... tolerant of weakness. When a unit in the team is a burden or can no longer fill its roll, it is removed. Purely business... the perfect soldiers. That's why I picked them and why they're so loyal. I have yet to fall and yet in dire situations like this I can still exact revenge and destruction while ensuring that the most units survive." She turned back to the beast's corpse. "More or less."

Jeris scooped up some uncooked bug juice in a piece of shell that formed a sort of vial. She capped that off with another bit of shell and tucked it away. Emotionless and drained, they mounted Kaikura, Erté taking the reigns. Mission... accomplished.


	8. With Fran Chapter 8

Back at the base, Jeris did more testing on her crystal fragments. Erté had left without a word early that morning to only he knew where. Aurelie and Cecelia had not returned and Mora was nowhere to be found.

Alone in this quiet seclusion, Jeris was able to think. About... everything. Things were getting far too complicated for her tastes and that was a problem. Her policy when confronted with any issue was to solve it, deal with it, or remove it from the equation altogether. Things weren't looking to be that easy.

The acid was indeed dissolving the crystal pieces she'd gathered, but that would only fix the most prominent part of the issue. Sure, of course it would remove the magickal radiation that was making citizens ill and viera berserk, but the device that started this mess was deliberate. This was no test or accident of science, it was blatant outright racism!

There were few things in this world or any other that Jeris hated as much as racism. It was a plague that sadly could not ever be entirely wiped out, but when politics becomes involved with it, it becomes entirely inexcusable. Whenever politics are part of any equation it complicates things to no end, beyond the point of irrationality. It was bad enough for viera like Fran who wanted only to explore the world and are exiled from their own people, but for them to then be shunned by the rest of the world was too harsh to believe, much less encourage or allow. That's why she encouraged anarchy and self sufficiency. It was hard to have faith in such a screwed up world.

Jeris knew that there was little one person, or even a small group, could do to change the way the people thought, but she was sick of just sitting and watching it. It was time to take action. Frustrated with the ways of the world, the clan leader called her team together. She vented a bit, discussed routine clan matters, then cut to the chase. The clan was going to do a little growing and then dominate the field for a while. No, Aurelie, not 'take over the world' sort of dominate, just... winners of EVERY tourney, engagement, turf war, etc. They would increase the clan's numbers then take over more territory. Plenty of it.

It sort of felt like becoming some oppressive force like a gang or something, but Jeris did not plan on bullying the general public or policing neighborhoods. No crime spree type of take over, just... cleaning up the field a bit. More and more clans were becoming gangs and it was lowering the moral of the general populace. Those were the types she was going to crush. Obliteration awaited any scum unlucky enough to make its presence known.

It was time to do some major recruiting.


End file.
